What If?
by EbonyDazed
Summary: Laura Hollis starts her first year at Silas feeling slightly guilty about not speaking her her childhood friend in eight years. Before she has the change to reunite, she is thrown into a mystery about a missing girl and reunites with her friend in the most unconventional way possible.
1. A Storm Is Coming

Loud crashes of thunder and lightning cuts through the darkness above. Laura hears the thunder, feel it shake the earth, long before she is slowly aware of the heavy raindrops pounding against her body. She becomes more aware of the fact that she's laying on the dirt ground. Opening her eyes she finder herself in an unfamiliar setting.

_Where am I?_ Her own voice sounds foreign to her. Like when you listen to your voice on an audio tape. It sounds off to her own ears.

_How did I get here?_ Another great question, Laura thinks to herself as she gathers herself up from her position on the ground. Her legs feel shaking and she doesn't quite feel steady.

_OK Laura, Lets not freak out, your trapped in a storm, maybe you hit your head?_ Laura raises her hand to her hair and does a quick pass through checking her hand to see if she was bleeding. _OK, no blood. Well standing here isn't going to solve my problem... Hey I know that lighthouse! _

Laura cracks a half-smile before pushing through the storm to the lighthouse. She new if she made it there, then at the very least she could get out of this god awful storm. _Dad and I had picnics up here all the time...Mom would come with us when I was little. _The fond memory helps Laura push on. Her sneakers not nearly the correct footwear for her journey as her feet slid against the mixture of mud and rocks beneath her. Lucky for her the path is short and soon she can see the base of the lighthouse. But something much larger catches her attention.

"Holy shit" Laura murmured as she was the most terrifying thing she's seen, next to the monsters in her dreams when she was five. The whirling mass of wind was huge, it seemed to move in slow motion and sucked up everything in it's path. Laura was stunned, too stunned to move when a large boat was thrown from the interior of the storm and smashed into the lighthouse.

At the sight of the large chunk of metal and wood flying toward her, Laura Hollis did the only reasonable thing...

She screamed.

_W_H_A_T_

"Whoa" Laura sits upright in her seat. She takes a minute to look over her surroundings. Small classroom, a few students besides her are sitting at tables. A man in his mid-thirties is talking on and on about some film, the name of which Laura doesn't catch in her state of confusion.

_OK, It was just a dream. I fell asleep in Photo-journalism class. I'm sitting at my usual desk, alone. I'm Okay. I just stayed up way too late last night watching netflix and eating an unspeakable amount of chocolate chip chunk cookies. That is the last time I let Laf talk me into watching something on a school night._

Laura makes her internal decision as she watches some of the students to her left throw a ball of paper at a curly redhead off to her right sitting alone.

_Dammit why do they need to give Perry a hard time?! She's so nice and she's never done anything to them! I really can't stand Betty and her crew sometimes. God she could at least turn her cell off._

Laura briefly looks down at her scattered items the cover the dark tabletop. Her textbook and notepad sit mostly untouched. Her journal off to the side, and old pencil case, and her polaroid camera she used for her photography work. A picture was half-heartedly hidden behind the pages of her notepad.

_God, our assignment was due today for that superhero thing? I really hate this picture, it doesn't hold half the originality that the rest of this class seems to possess. But I can't help it, I only got this camera a this semester for this class and I hardly know how to use it._

Laura picked up her camera hoping to somehow figure out more about the means of working it. Suddenly she sees a flash and a polaroid picture comes out. She blinks a few times, suddenly blinded by the white light.

"I believe Laura has taken what you kids call a 'selfie'...a dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Laura...has a gift. Of course as you should all remember from your reading, the photo portrait has been popular since the early 1800's. Your generation is certainly not the first to use images for...selfie-expression. Sorry, couldn't resist." The professor chuckles, "Now Laura, since you've captured our interest and clearly want to join the conversation"

_Where the heck did you get that idea? Oh yeah, maybe the flashing of my camera while you were talking was an indication that I really needed to join the conversation._

"Can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first photographic self-portraits?"

_Hashtag Selfie?_

Laura almost facepalms at her own random thought as she tries to remember the name of the artist. One thing that was very difficult in her class was to remember all these names for all these artists...

"I-" Laura started stammering as she felt all eyes on her, "I-I"

"You either know this or you don't." A quick rap on the desk sounded as Laura put her head down, embarrassed, "Doesn't anyone know their stuff?"

"Louis Daguerre was a French painter who created the 'daguerreotypes' a process that gave birth to portraits with a sharp reflective style." Betty recalled in her normal 'I'm superior to you drawl'. Laura tried and failed to suppress an eye roll. Betty was one of the first girls she encountered at Silas University. Her dorm was across the hallway from Laura and from the first day Laura knew she wasn't going to like her. She was mean to a lot of the students, even though that Laura was able to gain some kind of friendship with.

_Of course Betty knows it, she's been sucking up to Mr. Mason. He's like her favorite professor or something. I hear he's like a professional photographer who's work is supposed to be really good. I wouldn't really know, I've never seen it._

Laura almost dozes back off when she hears the bell right,

"And Laura I see you pretending not to see me, I'm waiting for your entry too." Mr. Mason calls over to her as she rounds the room before heading back to his desk where Betty is waiting and quickly strikes up a conversation with him.

Laura lets out a sigh as she stands, she notices Perry hasn't moved from her seat. _She has been quiet today, I wonder if something is wrong..._

Laura throws her backpack on her shoulder before walking over, Perry looking up slightly as she gets closer.

"Hey Perry," Laura greets offering a smile, "Are you OK? You seem really out of it."

"Hello Laura," Perry stands up to finish gathering her things, "I suppose I'm just tired. I had to reschedule the annual bake sale and has some troubling getting all the clubs to settle on a new date."

Perry was great, she was the floor don for Laura's floor and was one of the nicest people Laura had met since she started Silas. She always had such a kind personality, but lately she seemed more depressed then Laura remembered her being.

"Let me know when it is. I really love your brownies," Laura smiled, Perry smiled back and for once Laura was sure it was genuine,

"Remember you need healthy food too, health is very important to maintain while you're studying." Perry stated as she stood up, shoving the rest of her belongings in her backpack. "I'll see you later Laura. Lets do tea sometime."

"Um, yeah I'll text you!" Laura calls back before a deeper voice calls her over.

"Laura, can I talk to you for a moment," Mr. Mason called over, Betty rolling her eyes as Laura stepped forward. "I'd never let one of my students miss handing in their picture. Especially if they were truly gifted as a photographer."

"I know Professor Mason, I just forgot." That wasn't true, Laura was just going through a rut. She loved taking pictures, but she couldn't seem to get a good shot lately. And with her journalism assignments and planning to double-major in Journalism and Photography had already taken it's toll on her sleeping habits.

"Life won't wait for you to play catch-up Miss Hollis. You truly do have a gift with images. To frame the world only the way you see it. Now I will overlook this if you get your picture in my the end of today."

"Thank you Professor Mason," Laura ducked her head and turned to leave, suddenly very anxious to get out of the classroom. Mr. Mason had that effect, he was stern and passionate about photography. If he wanted he could push anyone to do just about anything. And his rage when you didn't hand in assignments was frightening.

"I expect your image by 10:00 tonight Miss Hollis."

Laura enters the hall as she hears Mr. Mason yell this to her. She rubs the sleep from her eyes. _I need to go wash my face so I don't look like a total zombie._

Laura took a deep breath before migrating through the students, she recognized many of them from her photography or journalism classes. Some of which were in the same dorm as her. She looked over at the bulletin board to see flyers for many different clubs. Along with a white and black missing persons flyer with a photo of a very pretty young girl in black and white.

_Eleanor Ambers? She's a year ahead of me. She went missing over a year ago. She really is pretty. _Laura's eyes gaze past the missing persons to another poster, _The Vortex club, really? Such an elitist group of students. Betty's in it._

"Hey L, you look tired," A voice stated and Laura looked up to see Lafontaine smiling at her,

"I fell asleep in photo, I stayed up all night watching that dumb show you showed me on netflix."

"Don't say that about _Orange is the New Black_!" Laf laughed, "You will offend every lesbian in this school."

"I didn't say I didn't like it." Laura giggled, "I just said I wish I hadn't spent all night watching it."

"Naw, you loved it." They looked over the posters on the board. "Damn those missing persons posters are all over the place."

"Someone really wants to find her."

"I can imagine," Laf shrugged her shoulders, "I'll see you later, I'm going to be late to my next class."

"Alright, see you later Laf."

Laura continues her journey down the hall to the bathroom. Despite the school being very nice, the bathrooms were kind of...worn. Laura walked up to the sink, graffiti on the mirror. She turns on the sink and splashes cold water on her face. She reaches into her pocket to pull out her self-photograph she was going to turn in. The image, to her, was amateur at most. _God I can't turn this in. This is by far one of my worst photos._ It wasn't like she had time to take a new one anyway. Something flutters overhead, making a shadow against the dull light. Laura looks up to see a small butterfly flutter around the corner. Laura follows it as it settles down on the bucket of the small area used for storing cleaning supplies.

_It's so pretty, it looks like it's glowing._ Laura smiles as she takes out her camera, kneeling down slowly to keep it from flying away before snapping a picture of it. After she pulls the analog photo from the camera to shake it off the butterfly flies away and the bathroom door opens. She hears footsteps and moves to stay hidden.

"It's cool Will...don't stress, you're okay, bro." _It's Will?_ Laura watches him from her hiding place as he leans against the sink, hands clutching the white worn porcelain. "Don't worry, don't sweat it. You have the power, you can do whatever you want. You're the boss."

The door swings open and a young woman enters through the door, taking one look at will and going down the line of stalls to check to ensure no one is there, stopping short of the wall Laura was hiding behind.

"I hope you checked the perimeter, as step-monster would say. Now I do hope the mama's-boy has what I'm looking for." The girl's voice is raspy, "Let's talk business."

"I got nothing,"

"Wrong," The girl steps closer, shoulders squaring in a way that screams that she will not back down. "You have exactly what I want. And enough drug money for me to get away with it. I know what you've done, pumping drugs to all your Zeta bros. Wouldn't mother love to see proof that her William wasn't the good kid she wants him to be."

"Leave her out of this, you bitch" Will stood up to his full height, easily towering over the other girl. "

"And I will if you little wannabe badass punk kid stops making trouble for me." The girl doesn't back down, nor does she seem faded by the fact that Will is getting angrier by the second. "A whiny little bitch who talks to himself-"

"Shut the hell up! You don't know me!" Laura covers her mouth when she sees Will pull a gun from the back of his pants, he points is square at the girls face and walks forward causing her to back up until her back hits the wall. He plants one of his hands firmly next to her head while he aims the gun to her stomach, "Don't you ever threaten me, you don't know who your messing with!"

"You are going to get in more trouble for this then the drugs Willy-boy." The girl's voice is shaking slightly despite the fact that she's trying to keep her indifferent appearance. "Get off me"

"Nobody would miss your punk ass would they? There is no one in this school who would EVER believe you. Nobody would even CARE that you were dead!"

"Get away from me!" The girl yells and pushes him back, the gun goes off and Laura could feel her stomach drop when she sees the girl drop to the floor, blood staining the front of her shirt.

"No" Laura calls out in an attempt to stop the horror that is going on around her, suddenly everything starts to move in slow motion, and then reverse.

_W_H_A_T_I_F_

"Holy shit" Laura murmured she looked around to see herself in her photography class, _Wait a minute, I've sat through this lecture._ Mr. Mason went on about a movie and how it related to photography. _What the hell just happened?!_


	2. A Storm is Coming Part 2

_W_H_A_T_I_F_

"Holy shit" Laura murmured she looked around to see herself in her photography class, _Wait a minute, I've sat through this lecture._ Mr. Mason went on about a movie and how it related to photography. _What the hell just happened?!_

Like clockwork, Laura watches some of the students to her left throw a ball of paper at a Perry again as they had done, at least as she thought they had done, before. Laura looks over at the poor redhead and then back at Betty and her friends chuckling at each other.

_What the hell is going on? I was in the bathroom...and Will...Will shot that poor girl. Then...now I'm back here and they're teasing Perry. They were teasing her last time too. And if Betty's phone goes off...now._ Just as Laura had timed it the cell goes off causing her to jump, flicking her wrist and causing her camera to crash against the ground, earning a snicker from Betty while Mr. Mason takes no notice what so ever of the loud crash.

_Oh my god...Oh my god, did I just...go back in time?_ Laura thinks before shaking it off. _No that's impossible...Ya know unless you have a tardis in your backyard or something like that...but if I could go back in time...could I did it again?_

Laura raises her hand slightly looking over at her broken camera. _What if I just rewind?_ The world around her slows to a stop before her. Voices lowering until they were muted and the scene goes fuzzy as everything stops. Within a moment things start backing up similarly to how an old VHS would rewind. The camera comes back together and sets itself back on her desk before she puts her hand down, _stop._ and then the world plays again. Betty and her friends laughing as Betty's phone vibrates on the table. _I...I just...rewound...I went back in time. That means...THAT GIRL. I can save her. I need to get to the bathroom. But how? When I snapped that picture accidentally with my camera I got Mr. Mason's attention. He asked me a question and...maybe I can get him to let me leave class? _

Laura picks up the camera and turns it over in her hands like before, _How did I get it to-_ the flash goes off and once again Mr. Mason stops his speech to address her.

"I believe Laura has taken what you kids call a 'selfie'...a dumb word for a wonderful photographic tradition. And Laura...has a gift. Of course as you should all remember from your reading, the photo portrait has been popular since the early 1800's. Your generation is certainly not the first to use images for...selfie-expression. Sorry, couldn't resist." Mr. Mason chuckles, "Now Laura, since you've captured our interest and clearly want to join the conversation Can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first photographic self-portraits?"

"I'm sorry Professor Mason, I have a terrible headache, may I go to the health center?"

The class snickers, well most of the class being Betty and her company.

"Nice try Laura, I will talk to you after class. Anyone else know?"

"Louis Daguerre was a French painter who created the 'daguerreotypes' a process that gave birth to portraits with a sharp reflective style."

_Dammit I should have known he wouldn't believe me...maybe I could rewind? give him the right answer? Then he wont keep me after class and I can get to the girl. Alright...Rewind...and stop._

_"_Can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first photographic self-portraits?"

_Nailed it._

"I believe it was...Louis Daguerre, a French painter who created...Daguerreotypes, which gave birth to the first portraits with a reflective style." Laura responded trying not to appear too smug at the look Betty gave her.

"Very good, Nice to know some students are keeping up on the reading." Mr. Mason smiled and went back to his previous lecture.

_This is kinda cool. Even if it came out of no where and I have no idea why this is happening to me...One thing at a time Laura...lets save that girl._

Laura can't jump out of her seat faster when the bell rings and everyone starts to leave class. She hesitated and looked over at Perry. _Damn I can't just leave her like that. _Laura walks over with a smile and is surprised when Perry picks her head up to offer her a smile.

"That was a good answer Laura, it's nice to hear someone other then Betty talk in class."

"Thanks, would you believe I rewound time and knew the question beforehand?" Laura joked actually getting a short laugh from Perry.

"I'd believe you stayed up late last night watching far too much _Dr. Who_. You need to ensure your getting enough sleep, you look a little pale today."

"You're right, I'll promise I'll sleep a more reasonable amount of time." Laura smiled, "Hey I know your busy with the bake sale, but when you're not busy maybe we can grab a coffee or hot chocolate...mostly hot chocolate, and hang out?"

"That would be lovely Laura." Perry replied, "Maybe I'll make some brownies and we can ask Lafontaine and Danny to join us."

"That sounds really nice." Laura couldn't smile any bigger, she was happy Perry seemed to be doing better then before the rewind. "I'll text you later?"

Perry nods and Laura turns to leave, ready to rush to the bathroom to save the mysterious girl. The only thing stopping her from running out the door was Mr. Mason's voice;

"Laura, can I talk to you for a moment," Mr. Mason called over, Betty rolling her eyes as Laura stepped forward. "I'd never let one of my students miss handing in their picture. Especially if they were truly gifted as a photographer."

_Oh crap the picture!_

"I'm not sure I have a good entry."

"I find that a little hard to believe, especially after your selfie episode, you must have taken hundreds of pictures in the last few weeks. Don't take too long to pick an entry. John Lennon once said that 'Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.' Go on, don't let me stop you."

Mr. Mason doesn't look happy, and Laura knows the last thing she needs is to make her photo teacher angry or risk her grade. _Ok, maybe I could rewind and give him a better answer, maybe I can get an extension like last time. OK_

_Rewind...and Stop._

"I'd never let one of my students miss handing in their picture. Especially if they were truly gifted as a photographer."

"I'm on top of it." Laura said more confidently, "I think John Lennon once said 'life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.'"

"Laura, you're are on fire today, all the right answers. Make sure you have your assignment ready by say, tomorrow morning? I have faith in you."

Mr. Mason smiles brightly before turning back to Betty who's eager to continue their conversation.

_I can travel back in time and make myself sound cooler then I am...sweet. Wait, no time to bask, I need to get to the bathroom._

Laura hurries out the door and down the hall, everything exactly as she remembered it her first time. She hurries past Lafontaine before they can even talk to her and she sees their confused look out of the corner of her eye before she turns the corner and heads the rest of the way to the bathroom.

_OK Laura retrace your steps. You looked in the mirror, washed your face, looked at your photo. And then that..._

The flutter in the light happens again and Laura follows the butterfly. _I took the picture and then.._

The door opens and she can hear Will again. Talking to himself until the girl walks in and her voice also fills the bathroom. They soon start to argue and Laura looks around frantically for a way to stop it before the girl gets hurt.

_The fire alarm! I need something to break the glass._ Laura hurries looking around until she notices the piece of wood by her feet thick enough to function as a hammer. She can hear Will yelling, the girl yelling back until she slams the wood against the glass, breaking it and hitting the red button with her palm. The alarm goes off the Will leans away from the girl long enough for her to plant a knee firmly in his stomach and push him back before hurrying out of the bathroom.

"Damn it." Will grabs the gun that fell out of his hand and rushed out the door. "Another shitty day."

After a few moments Laura walks out of her hiding place and heads towards the door.

_Well that was a rush, I'm glad she's Okay, for now at least._ As soon as she opens the door she comes face to face with a woman in a business suite.

"Do you hear that fire alarm young lady, that means you should leave the school." The woman is easily six foot tall with dark hair pulled back into a tight bun and harsh eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'll hurry out." Laura turns and walks toward the exit.

_The principal never comes out of her office. I guess she has to for the fire alarm. She seems harsh. I've never seen her my few months here. I can't remember her name either._

Laura hurries out the door, students spread out in different places, they seemed to be relaxing more then worrying about the fire alarm. Laura's phone goes off with a new text.

**Danny: **Hey you there?

**Laura: **Yeah sorry, running late.

**Danny: **That's fine, hey can you bring me my drive?

**Laura:** The one with all the "borrowed" movies on it?

Yeah I guess.

For a price :P

**Danny: **Laura Hollis, are you blackmailing me?! ^_^

We can go out for cocoa and sweets?

**Laura: **DEAL

Be there in a few. Gotta get it out of my dorm.

**Danny: **Sweet, meet you in the parking lot?

**Laura:** Deal

"Hey L, what was your rush earlier, you looked like you were being haunted." Laura looks up to see Lafontaine looking over at her with a teasing smile, "Did someone try to jump your photo teacher?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure Betty's close." Laura sighed looking down, a few stray missing persons posters by her feet. "These things are all over the place."

"Yeah, they've been all over since she went missing." Lafontaine says as they walk toward the dorms together, "I never knew her, but maybe Ari did?"

Lafontaine gestures to a girl sitting under a tree working vigorously in a sketchbook. Laura walked up almost instantly with Lafontaine at her heels. Ari Daugaard was a studio art student and a third year. Laura had seen her a few times on campus, usually sitting in a peaceful spot sketching or in the art rooms sculpting. Ari seemed to know everyone, or at least know of everyone. Despite not really hanging around with other people.

"Laura," Ari greets as she bouncing up with Lafontaine behind her. Ari wasn't unkind, she had a strong silent type thing going for her. Laura liked that about her, that and she was a huge Harry Potter fan so clearly she couldn't be that bad.

"Hey Ari," Laura greeted, "So, I've been seeing these missing persons posters all over and well did you know Eleanor Amber? she was a grade below you."

"Wow you really are a journalism major huh Hollis?" Ari laughed, "I mean you haven't been here long and you're already asking questions."

"I did grow up here you know." Laura stated with a frown, "I went to middle school here."

"That's right, you said that before." Ari looked apologetic for a moment, "Tell you what, if you pose for me for a quick sketch, I'll tell you what I know about Eleanor Ambers."

"You want to draw me?"

"Sure, why not? I've drawn almost everyone on this campus...including Eleanor."

"So you did know her?"

"Sit," Laura did what she was told and sat down in the grass. Crossing her legs and sitting up straight, "Perfect. And yes I knew her sorta."

Ari's pencil makes quick marks in her book.

"She was a Vortex club member, like Betty and those other elite students? She wasn't mean though, she was friendly. But since her disappearance there have been a ton of rumors going around about her."

"What kind of rumors?" Laura asks as she tilts her head slightly before positioning it back to keep from moving too much while Ari drew.

"One girl was talking about how she had sex with that photography professor everyone's drooling over. What's his name? Watson?"

"Mason"

"Yeah him. But I don't think it's true, she didn't have that air to her." Ari shook her head, "She was way too...pure? She had a very pure air to her."

"And she was in Vortex club?"

"Yeah, I thought it was weird, her with big-wigs like Betty Spieldorf and Will Eisen? Didn't seem like her crowd, but she did always hand around with this other girl. Don't ask me her name because I never talked to her." Ari raised a hand as Laura opened her mouth to ask exactly that. "All I know is the girl was a great painter because I saw her work in the gallery. And that she wore really dark clothes, it was funny how different they looked."

"What exactly is this Vortex Club?"

"It's pretty much a club for all the richest students at this school. Some of them are nice though, a few of the Zeta Omega Mu guys are in it and two or three Summer Society girls. I'm not sure what they do other then party."

"Will doesn't seem nice to me...or stable."

"He's not," Ari stated simply, "I'm pretty sure he's a licensed creep. But that really tall guy Brody Kirsch is in it and he's pretty Okay. Anyway I'm done."

Ari flashed the sketch and Laura smiled, Ari really did have a great hand for drawing.

"Looks great, will this go up on your PortfolioBook file?" Lafontaine asked, "Maybe it will help Frosh's street cred."

"Sure will." Ari smiled,

"Thanks Ari, I really should go now, Danny's expecting me to meet her with her drive."

"Later A"

"Later Laf, Later Laura."

Laura felt her phone vibrate and looked down to see another text from Danny

**Danny: **Taking our sweet time?

**Laura: **Sorry I stopped to talk to Ari

I had some questions. And she sketched me!

**Danny:** Cool, maybe I'll check out her PortfolioBook page to see if she posted it.

While I wait for you of course.

"Danny getting anxious?" Lafontaine teased,

"I did keep her waiting a bit." Laura placed her phone back into her pocket. "It wont take me too long to get the drive though, it's sitting on my desk."

"Her drive with all her movies on it?" Laf grinned, "Tell her I'd like to borrow it sometime. I'll trade her for some really cool sci-fi movies."

"I'll let her know,"

"I'll see you around then L, I've got to get to the Biology labs to finish an experiment." Lafontaine started towards the lab buildings with a wave, "See ya Frosh"

Laura waved back and headed for her dorm building. Only slowing when she noticed Betty and her friends sitting on the steps blocking the way.

_Great._


End file.
